BASAbali Wiki, launched in 2014, was initiated by the BASAbali Group, spearheaded by Balinese academics and writers in an effort to preserve the Balinese language.

BASAbali executive director Gus Dark told The Jakarta Post on Thursday he hoped the award would not only be merely a prestigious achievement for Bali and Indonesia, but rather an opportunity to reinvigorate literacy in the digital era.

“This award should encourage Indonesian millennials to master foreign languages as well as local wisdom from their own culture and mother tongue. Literary culture in Indonesia, which is rather low, should be considered a crucial issue, as prominent as plastic waste, renewable energy and local unicorns,” Gus said.

Gus, whose comics and illustrations featured in BASAbali Wiki before he took the post in August, said efforts such as book drives, independent libraries and local language preservation should be supported by both the public as well as the government.

“It’s our job together to provide easier access to books from local authors both in local languages as well as Indonesian, as this movement cannot be done alone. A lack of access to books will be a step backward to literacy in Indonesia.”

BASAbali’s website – accessible at dictionary.basabali.org as well as an app version on Google Play Store – is equipped with a full-fledged dictionary, complete with usage examples and Balinese script.

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